Walk For Miles - Part 6

Plain Concrete Building No More! - NW 12th and Johnson Street

Downtown with Wispy Cloud - From Vista Bridge

Downtown Zoom - From Vista Bridge

ONLY A FIVE MINUTE WALK FROM THE LAST PHOTO! - Washington Park

Ye Olde Lamp Post - Vista Bridge

Ye Olde Fungi - Vista Bridge

The Hobbits Ran Out of Round Doors - SW Madison and Vista Avenue

Huge Literatures! - SW 5th and Hall Street

A District Named Pearl - NW 12th and Couch Street

Henry's Back Alley - NW 12th and Couch Street

What is the Incinerator Used For Now? -NW 12th and Couch Street

Walk For Miles - Part 1

Miles falls asleep during his first architectural photo walk.

I finally figured out how to kill many birds with one stone. Since shortly before my son was born and now especially after, I don't have time to do much of anything that doesn't involve diapers and spit up. Miles has become the center of the universe, but that just means he's always handy for fish-eye photographs. I haven't been able to write, take architectural photos, or wander the city like I used to. The center of the universe gets pretty boring.

About once a week I take Miles for a walk in the front loader for an hour or two to give Sarah a break from his little milk-seeking lips and razor sharp finger talons. We bring along the camera and we're good to go! Sarah can bake cookies or sleep and Miles will learn a little about architectural photo walks. This is the first part of hopefully many such walks through the city with Miles. I decide what to photograph and he decides when we go home.

Now to throw the first stone.

Winter Windows - SW Ninth and Washington Street

Footprint - W Burnside and Tenth Avenue

Powell's Books - W Burnside and Tenth Avenue

Noodles, Where? - NW Tenth and Couch Street

Coffee Break - NW Eighteenth and Glisan Street

Trader Joe's Cheese Aisle - NW Glisan and Twenty-first Avenue

Super Glass Box Extravaganza! - NW Glisan and Twenty-third Avenue

United States Customs House

Sustainability of an Historic Structure: Renovation and Re-Purposing

The following was written for Intern Development Program (IDP) credit through the Emerging Professionals Companion (EPC), as an exercise in re-purposing an existing structure and is fairly theoretical and unresearched.

In Northwest Portland, where the Pearl District and Old Town meet, there sits an historic building in need of love and attention. While this turn-of-last-century building is in no eminent danger of demolition, it is certainly in jeopardy of neglect and under use. Built in 1901, the U.S. Customs House was home to the offices and courtrooms of the United States Customs Services. Designed by Edgar Lazarus and James Knox Taylor in an European Renaissance style, the building is completely decked out in marble columns, balustrades, arches, cornices, quoins, and plenty of other classical features. Straddling an entire block beside the North Park Blocks and Broadway just north of downtown, the building has been empty for a number of years and the government is looking for a buyer. After serving time as the customs house, the building welcomed the U.S. Corp of Engineers. Recent, though failed proposals include a home for the University of Oregon Portland campus, a boutique hotel, and an international language school.

Though listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which saves it from utter destruction, the Customs House is an under-appreciated property in need of a significant repurposing. The government is kicking it around, searching for a potential buyer. Finally there has been the realization that no one wants it. The final blow to historic pride is the upcoming internet auction - a last desperate attempt to unload this historical edifice on an unseen buyer. Someone with money will buy it, but what will they do with it?

The Customs House is no longer comfortable in the neighborhood in which it sits and is no longer what potential buyers are looking for. There are no storefront windows with which to display the latest summer fashions and the offices are surely archaic and not up to data and power standards. The original use is obsolete. Nearby are renovated condos (which are nice) and weary commercial buildings (most not worth saving). But this building itself, an assemblage of marble majesty, is indeed worth saving. More than the marble we need try to save its very soul. What will it become? Law and architecture offices (if not for the high local vacancy rate), banal storage (if all else fails) or something completely different? The new use has probably only been considered along the lines of something grand to match its exquisite character. As this hasn't worked out so well, given the recent abandonment, perhaps something else is needed. To introduce a new spirit of exciting and sustainable reuse and to promote local independent businesses, I propose a mixed-use scheme that welcomes the Customs House back into the neighborhood. 

A hotel is a splendid idea, but why another luxury hotel? Why not consider a hostel - the hotel's forgotten friend who encourages young and adventurous travelers to venture downtown, seeking affordable lodging in the geographic area usually reserved for spendy suites. This would provide healthy competition for the other hostel in Northwest Portland and I could see these accommodations filling one of the upper floors of the building. Another possible tenant is a used bookstore. Though Powell's Books is not many blocks away, the city can always use another interesting bookstore that fills an interesting space. I imagine (as I have not seen) the upper floors of the Customs House to contain small offices lining the sides of wide corridors – admittedly not your typical bookstore layout. However, given a little imagination and creative organization, these rooms and even one side of a wide corridor could be lined with shelves and pleasantly placed reading tables. The courtrooms might be re-purposed for this as well, and who could say no to another local coffee shop or an attractive event space?

Given the funding required to update the finishes and retrofit the structure, a major anchor tenant will be required. The tenant must be willing to put down the cash necessary to pump new life into a dying edifice, as a group that values the renovation of historic space is important in the Portland culture. Someone has to spend the money, or this building will sit vacant until someone does. One local group fitting this description is McMenamins - the restaurant, pub and entertainment group with extensive experience transforming existing structures all over Portland into excitingly artful places to share a pint or watch a movie. McMenamins might find the ground floor of the Customs House a fine location for a new full service restaurant and pub. The courtyard on the west side of the property, which opens up to the North Park Blocks, could be established as an outdoor seating place and could even spill out into the park if such a thing were ever allowed. Similar to the nearby Eco Trust Building, an old structure repurposed for retail and commercial space, the various tenants would be accessed from the interior lobbies and shared interior circulation.

Theoretically, McMenamins could operate this whole endeavor on their own, as they have experience with this sort of thing. Or another independent business could follow the McMenamins model in their own style with a result just as effective. In an effort to offer the best variety of services and multiplicity of choice, a cooperation of diverse businesses could come together under one roof, allowing the character of the Customs House to change with the times and not be subject to the detriment of one business's financial misfortune.

This renovation can implement green principles, primarily through the reuse of an existing structure and taking in local tenants rather than national chains. The heating systems can be upgraded to the best energy efficiency standards and perhaps solar power and a green roof technology can be employed. New windows that maintain the historic look but offer improved performance will help the building maintain sustainability. Having once been a customs house and then an office for the U.S. Corp of Engineers, this building is ready for something new and non-governmental. There are better places in the city for simple office space which do not require such a handsome countenance, but there is seldom such an exquisite (seemingly unwanted) space available for local artistic independent businesses such as hostels, book stores, coffee shops and pubs.

Indigo

Indigo, the tower which until recently was known as the ZGF Tower or 12W (for it sits on the corner of SW 12th and Washington) has made a big impact on the west side of downtown. Just a few blocks from the Pearl District and Downtown proper, the 22 story building is mostly high-end residential over a few floors of commercial space. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca, the designer, has moved in to anchor the base of this beautiful slice of blue glass.

The windmill people are coming! The coolest part of the building sits on the roof. Four wind turbines are arrayed to harness the power of the breeze. I expect Captain Planet to show up any day now and approve overwhelmingly. Though the turbines will only generate one percent of the building's power (according to the website), this is an important symbolic step for the city. Nearby, plans for the new I-5 bridge over the Columbia River have included options with wind turbines mid-span, and I imagine that in time more turbines throughout the city could become a collective force large enough to make a difference. Until then these four energy pixies can spin their sweet little heads off.

Back to commenting on the building itself, I like the smooth blue glass and vertical tan strips that run up to the sky and slide off into the clouds, and I like that the decks do not protrude from the overall form. Rather, the glass seems to have been removed in long straight strips to reveal the living spaces (and decks) inside. Funny how architects like to think of some part of a building as having been removed, even though it has just been built.

Indigo sits unique in it's context, surrounded by old bricks, a tall steeple and tired parking lots, but I anticipate this side of the West End will continue to evolve in a modern way. Just a block to the south is Sky Lab, and there are already plans to for a Weave Building neighbor.

P.S. When I took these photos, the wind turbines had not yet been installed on the roof, and I had no idea they were coming! But you can see them here.

Isabel is a Restaurant

The sleek, perhaps out of place concrete and glass box at the corner of NW 10^th and Flanders Streets ironically houses a Latin/Asian fusion restaurant that opens to a pocket courtyard on the afternoon side of the Elizabeth Lofts in the Pearl District. The large glass doors pivot open on nice days to release tables and the lunch crowd elegantly into the cobblestone square. 

From every turn of pebbly stone and rise of smooth concrete, there is beauty in this sublime form. While the context is so much of brick and tradition, this modern box is a breath of fresh air and a unique icon in the neighborhood. 

I found the building hard to photograph as the sun was in the wrong place and the building largely sits in shadow. I probably appreciate it less after further investigation, having settled down from my initial joyful fascinations. The strongest facades are definitely the north side which faces Flanders and contains the front door, and the east side which faces the small pedestrian passage that separates Isabel from Elizabeth (represented by the image above). The flagstones with some irregular vertical grout lines are both playful and robust.

The facades facing 10th Avenue and the cobblestone square are weaker, I think for their simplicity of concrete post and beam construction; however, as a whole the composition is perhaps well composed. These sides are the more functional, containing the large glass doors, so we have form and function. The inside of the restaurant is stunning, but I will save comment on that for another time.

Why would you want to live here?

This is a condo building in the Pearl District. Housing 76 units on about ten floors, the North Park Lofts is a beautifully renovated old building with a modern hat. While many of the units don't have balconies and the ones that do are not large, this building is across the street from the North Park Blocks; a front yard big enough for all to share. (Amenities include: basketball courts, bocce courts, large green trees, and the Portland Dog Bowl fountain for our smaller four legged friends. Also very near is the train station, some future light rail stations, and various sorts of shops and grocery stores. I chose to post this particular building as I happened to walk by today and snapped this lovely photo.

On this same property, if transported cleverly to the suburbs, you would probably see three or four houses occupying the same space, and most likely only one story each. But that is what the people want, right? Some say they can't afford to own a unit in a building like this, so they live in the suburbs and drive to their job in the city, but many people seem to want it. Most people view the suburbs as the only way people live, without giving a second thought to other possibilities. Maybe a few people live on farms or maybe poor people live in the inner city, and maybe someone lives in the Congo... The suburbs have been around for the last 60 years or so, which actually isn't very long.

Americans are accustomed to their large living spaces and their large driving spaces. We cover so much ground each day that living in one city and commuting to another for work is normal. Driving to a third city for shopping, and then driving to a fourth city for an evening of entertainment is normal. We can go where we please, when we please, and as far as we want and it only costs energy. We want our own space and we don't want to share anything. We don't want to change.

I propose that we can't all have everything we think we are entitled to and think we want, just because we have been told that we could have it and perhaps we do have it right now. The American dream. I am only a few years out of college and still paying off debt. I don't expect that I have a right to own any sort of home right now, in the city or the suburbs. Some day perhaps. The sub-prime lending crisis, the threat of peak oil, and global warming all tell me that everything isn't rosy and we need to be fine with that. Are we willing to give up our cars, our multiple flat screens per house, our unused front porches, our guest room, junk room, office room... how about having more bedrooms than children?

Some good documentaries, both by Gregory Greene are, The End of Suburbia (2004) which predicts an end to the quintessential American residential landscape and Escape From Suburbia (2007) which explores some ways that certain people are leaving the suburbs. If we consider that our way of life could be a troubled path, we have opened the door to doing something about the problem, and even admitting that there is a problem. The suburbs might not be around forever, or they might at least be very different than they are today.

So, why would you want to live here, so many feet off the ground without your own eighth acre of land? Because you are not the only one who matters. We need to distance ourselves from the suburban lifestyle which is made possible by cars and oil. If you were not able to drive tomorrow, could you get to work or buy food? According to the July 14, 2008 issue of Newsweek (page 45), 69% of petroleum in the US is used for transportation, and 96% of the transportation sector gets its energy from petroleum.

Purposefully setting aside certain freedoms is something that most people have never done. We are running out of oil and energy is becoming more expensive. To a certain degree we just pull out our wallets and take the hit. But sooner or later we won't be able to withstand the pain. Our choice is to implement another energy source that allows us to maintain our current lifestyle without a reliance on oil, or we must change our personal reality at its very core and live differently. We can search for new ways to power our cars so we can get around, or we can sell our cars and live near to where we work and play. We can buy locally so that our goods don't have to be shipped around the world with ever increasingly expensive energy. Living simply and separate from dependence on oil is just good common sense. If we require less, then we will need less; as most of our needs are a manufactured farce. Rather than try to maintain our freedom to have whatever we want, we need to desire less and be happy with what we have. This includes living on a smaller footprint and sharing some space with our neighbors. Choose to be a good steward of the earth before you don't have a choice.

Urban Parking Lots

The urban parking lot is a little black hole in the dense fabric of the city. I pass them wearily as I walk from block to block and I imagine which Smart Park will stop selling its soul for $12 a day and grow up into a building of some consequence. Preferably at least three storys. Maybe nine. Or which derelict one story office building with its smashed-in windows and peeling beige paint will be the next to go, ceasing to need its private surface parking lot which can only accommodate the cars which serve paying customers for a few hours a day.

While the city is overwhelmingly growing through density, small asphalt rectangles of a violating lifestyle are content to hide in the shadows of increasingly taller neighbors. During the day they support an influx of cars that wait for their humans to return, making oil puddles that shimmer in the sun. At night...um...nothing happens. We need to hide these parking lots underground and under buildings.

I suppose it is unscientific or nonliterary to say they are just plain ugly. They are just plain ugly. The Hive Modern Furniture store (above center) which is housed in a one story green box surrounded by a parking lot on all sides is bound to be replaced by denser development sooner or later, as it is situated on the North Park Blocks in the Pearl. What is outside does not resonate with what is inside. Modern furniture is about the modern city and modern living...not the parking lot. Perhaps Hive will soon occupy a nice ground floor retail space of a mixed-use building, maybe on this very site. Perhaps one with an underground parking lot to bury the vestige of Henry Ford, and with several welcoming residential floors above for people to actually live in with their modern furniture.

Boo to the surface parking lot. You are ugly.